Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh drew fire after excluding the press from her first official visit to Aberdeen. The trip to meet North Sea energy executives ended without a formal read-out, sparking accusations of evasion regarding Labour's energy policies.
The Aberdeen media blackout and the DESNZ appointment excuse
Miatta Fahnbulleh met with North Sea energy leaders in a UK Government office in Aberdeen, yet the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) ensured that no media members were present. According to the report, the DESNZ defended this decision by claiming the Energy Secretary had only been appointed on the preceding Monday, suggesting a lack of preparation for a press engagement.
However, this explanation has been met with skepticism. The report notes that Miatta Fahnbulleh had already participated in various radio and television interviews in London within 24 hours of taking her post. This discrepancy suggests that the media exclusion in Scotland was a strategic choice rather than a matter of timing or scheduling.
A 78 per cent windfall tax and 1,000 monthly job losses
The lack of transparency in Aberdeen comes at a time of extreme volatility for the Scottish energy sector. The Scottish Tories have highlighted the impact of a 78 per cent windfall tax on energy firms, which they claim is a primary driver of industry instability. Shadow Scottish Secretary Andrew Bowie argued that the visit should have been used to provide a "vote of confidence" to the sector instead of being a "tick box exercise."
The human cost of these policies is a central point of contention. SNP Aberdeen Central MSP Jack Middleton claimed that Labour's current trajectory is ruining up to 1,000 jobs every month. Middleton suggested that the Energy Secretary's first stop in Aberdeen should have been the job centre to witness the damage being done to Scotland's premier indutsry.
The Rosebank and Jackdaw decision looming over the North Sea
A critical point of tension is the future of the Rosebank oil and Jackdaw gas projects. These massive fields, which were backed by the previous government, have the potential to supply 10 per cent of the UK's energy needs. Miatta Fahnbulleh now holds the decision-making power over whether to grant the necessary licences for these projects to proceed.
While the Labour manifesto explicitly promised to ban new drilling licences to combat climate change, there is internal friction. As reported, some oil executives privately expect Rosebank and Jackdaw to be approved even if other fields are rejected. Russell Borthwick, the chief executive of the Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce, stated that approving these specific projects would signal that the UK remains open to investment and values domestic production.
Miatta Fahnbulleh’s 1.5C warming pledge vs. energy security
The current friction is rooted in the Energy Secretary's long-standing ideological opposition to fossil fuels. In 2022, Miatta Fahnbulleh stated on Twitter that new oil and gas fields are incompatible with the goal of staying within 1.5C of global warming. By 2023,she had called for the government to end all new fossil fuel projects and stop businesses from funding them.
This history creates a perceived conflict between the government's environmental goals and the economic reality of the North Sea. The Scottish Tories have characterized Miatta Fahnbulleh as a "replica" of her predecessor , Ed Miliband, suggesting that the new appointment does not represent a shift in policy but rather a continuation of a hardline stance against new drilling.
The discrepancy between London interviews and the Aberdeen silence
One of the most pressing questions remaining is why the government felt comfortable with media exposure in London but not in the energy capital of Scotland. If the Energy Secretary is confident in Labour's energy transition plan,the refusal to engage with the Aberdeen press suggests a fear of direct confrontation with the industry's workforce .
Furthermore, it remains unclear whether the "change of emphasis" on North Sea projects mentioned by Andy Burnham will manifest in actual policy shifts or if the ban on new licences will be applied universally. Until a formal read-out of the Aberdeen meetings is released, the industry is left to guess whether the government views the North Sea as a strategic asset or merely a "cash cow" for tax revenue.
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